Ten years on, however, the Kingdom’s primary challenges persist. Human Rights Watch, in its 2009 World Report, observed:

Cambodia continued its drift toward authoritarianism in 2008 as Prime Minister Hun Sen and his Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) consolidated power through flawed national elections in July. The elections were criticised by the European Union and the United Nations special representative for human rights in Cambodia for failing to meet international standards.

Things have only deteriorated since. The Economist Intelligence Unit labeled Cambodia an “authoritarian regime” in its 2018 Democracy Index. The main difference now is that, after three decades of little more than finger wagging, donor countries from the West seem prepared to finally take action.

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